
Glass. 
Book, 



m^^ 



^^& 



REV. DR. WAYLAND'S 



THANKSGIVING DISCOURSE. 



JULY 21, 184 2. 



^econtJ Stritiou. 



e8^& 




DISCOURSE 



DELIVERED IN THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH, 



PROVIDENCE, R, I. 



THE DAY OF 



PUBLIC THANKSGIVING, 



swiLtT? ^a^ a®^g,3 



y 



BY FRANCIS Vi^AYLAND 



<Seconti 35tJit(on. 




PROVIDENCE: 
PRINTED BY H. H. BROWN 

1842. 



^ S3 

•i 

Providence, July 25, 1842. 
To THE Rev. Dr. Wayland, 
SIR, 

At a special meeting of the Charitable Baptist Society, held this day, 
it was unanimously " Resolved, That the thanks of this Society be pre- 
sented to the Rev. Dr. Wayland, for his interesting and instructive 
Discoui'se, delivered before said Society on Thursday last, being the 
day appointed by the Governor of this State, by virtue of a resolution 
of the General Assembly, to be obsei"ved by its citizens as a day of 
public Thanksgiving and Praise to God, 'for the signal interposition of 
his kind and fatherly love, so recently and strikingly manifested in 
rescuing them from the horroi's of civil war, anarchy and death,' and 
that he be requested to furnish a copy of the same for the press." 
And it was also "Resolved, That the undersigned be a Committee to 
communicate to you the above resolutions, and to carry the same into 
effect." 

We are, very respectfully. Sir, 
Your obedient servants, 

PARDON MILLER, 

ASA PIERCE, 

GAMALIEL LYMAN DWIGHT, 

JAMES H. READ. 



Providence, July 26, 1842. 
Gentlemen, 
I thank you for the notice which you liave been pleased to take of 
the Sermon delivei-ed on the late day of Thanksgiving, and agreeably 
to your wishes, submit the copy to your disposal. 
I have thfi honor to be, 
Gentlemen, 

Your ob't servant, 

F. WAYLAND, 
Messrs. 
Pardon Miller, 
Asa Pierce, 

Gamaliel Lyman Dwight, 
James H. Read, Esquires. 
CommHtee. Sfc 



A DISCOURSE. 



PSALM cxvi. 12, 13, 14. 

What shall I render unto the Lord for all His benefits 
toward me? i will take the cup of salvation and calf, 
upon the name of the lord ; i will pay my vows unto the 
Lord, now, in the presence of all his people 

The offering of thanksgiving to God, my breth- 
ren, is one of the most pleasing duties of a pioiLs 
soul. The daily mercies which, as individuals, we 
receive, call for those daily acknowledgments which 
every good man loves to breathe out in the retire- 
ment of the closet. The blessings which we enjoy 
as families, we dehght to acknowledge around the 
domestic altar. And when a nation, which is only 
a more extended family, has experienced special and 
peculiar deliverance, it is seemly that it should col- 
lect together its multitude of people, and that all 
who profess or call themselves Christians, in their 
several temples should reverently bow the knee be- 
fore the Father of mercies, while with grateful hearts 
they utter the memory of his great goodness. 

Such are the circumstances in which we are as- 
sembled on the present occasion. Almighty Cod 
has, in a signal manner, appeared for us in deliver- 
ing this community from the horrors of civil war. 
The instances of his interposition have been so fre- 
quent and so manifest, that 1 have not seen an indi 
vidual who has not humblv acknowledged them. 



No sooner was the immediate danger passed away, 
than the sentiment, 'Let us give thanks to God,' arose 
spontaneously from every bosom. The intrepidity 
of our citizens, the skill of our commanders, the pa- 
triotism of our people, were all forgotten, and every 
one thought, first of all, of God, who had carried us 
unharmed through so serious a peril. The procla- 
mation which invited us to set apart this day for the 
purposes of grateful acknowledgment, was but the 
utterance of that feeling which pervaded every spir- 
it. 1 give thanks unto God that it is so. It is be- 
coming a people loving justice and hating wrong. 
It is meet, that after rising as one man to vindicate 
the claims of liberty and law, to defend our country 
from anarchy, and our hearths from violation, we 
should first, and above all, render the praise of our 
deliverance unto God. 

Permit me in the commencement of this discourse, 
briefly to review the facts which have given occasion 
to the solemn assembling of ourselves together to-day. 

At the time when I last addressed you, we had 
just escaped the dangers of a previous insurrection- 
ary movement with which this city had been threaten- 
ed. The peace for which we then called you to 
thankfulness, proved, however, to be but of short 
duration. It soon became apparent that another 
attempt to overthrow the government of this State, 
of a more formidable character, was in contempla- 
tion. Secret meetings were known to be held, in 
various places ; and the public mind was very gen- 
erally agitated by (he threats of another outbreak. 

The General Assembly of this State met by ad- 



journment at Newport, on Monday the 20th ol 
June last. The great business of this meeting was 
well understood to be the adoption of some measure 
for calling a convention, on such a basis as would 
restore to this distracted community its wonted tran- 
quillity. At this very time it was first announced that 
a body of armed men had assembled in Chepachet. 
Soon we were informed that they had thrown up an 
entrenchment on a commanding position. Cannon, 
which had been privately taken from various parts 
of tlie State, were placed in battery. Gunpowder 
and other munitions of war, to a large amount, had 
been stolen by night from individual proprietors, and 
conveyed to the insurgents' camp. A large number 
of persons, from this and the surrounding States, had 
already assembled, and it was reported that great ad- 
ditions were daily expected from the city of N. York. 
The force at the close of the week is said to have 
amounted to more than a thousand men ; and their 
avowed intention was to march to this city and seize 
by violence upon the Government of this State. 

In the mean time, the General Assembly, unmoved 
by fear and unruffled by irritation, dehberately ac- 
complished the object for which they had been called 
together. They passed an act for the calling of a 
convention, so liberal in its provisions and so equi- 
table in its apportionment, that the warmest friends 
of suffrage gave it at once their cordial support. So 
universal was the agreement in this measure, that it 
met but one negative in the House, and was passed 
unanunously in the Senate. It was a noble act. 
it was a glorious moral victor}. Every true citizen 



of Rliode-lslaiid tlicn felt that the State had done 
her duty ; that no provocation, however galling, 
could deter her from granting to every citizen all 
I hat with any show of reason he could ask ; and 
that, whatever might have been her original im- 
munities, she would never press them to the wrong, 
or even to the reasonable disquiet, of any of her cit- 
izens. The passage of this act will ever remain one 
of the most glorious deeds by which her history is 
emblazoned. Henceforward, either in success or in 
failure, she could not be otherwise than illustrious ; 
for, under circumstances of the severest trial, she 
had acted virtuously. 

With this act, all of our citizens who honestly de- 
sired an extension of suffrage, were, so far as I know, 
entirely satisfied. Many of them took immediate 
occasion to avow this sentiment in the public papers, 
and nobly to declare their readiness to enter the 
ranks in defence of the established authorities of the 
State. Still the encampment continued at Chepa- 
chet — its designs remained unaltered — it was report- 
ed to be increasing in numbers — and gross violations 
of law were perpetrated by the insurgents. Under 
these circumstances, his Excellency the Governor 
ordered inio active service the whole military force 
of the State. 

Of the manner in which this call was responded 
to, it is but the simple verily to say, that nothing simi- 
lar to it has been seen in this country, since the days 
of the Revolution. As the order flew from town to 
town, the yeomanry of Rhode-Island arose with one 
simultaneous impulse. The farmer left his hoe in 



the field and his scythe in the meadow ; the me 
chanic dropped his hammer on the anvil and his 
plane on the bench ; the manufacturer closed his 
mill and the lawyer laid aside his brief, and in many 
cases without even changing his dress, every one, on 
the instant, was on the line of march for the city of 
Providence. Those who were not enrolled in the 
regular militia, formed themselves into volunteer 
companies, and proffered their services to the Exec- 
utive. In some places the orders were received at 
midnight, and hundreds who retired to rest without 
the idea of danger, before the day-light broke were 
already on their way to what all expected would be 
the scene of conflict. In the same platoon might 
be seen fathers and sons and grand-sons, pressing on, 
shoulder to shoulder, in defence of liberty and law. 
The youth of sixteen and the revolutionary pensioner 
of eighty were moving side by side, all animated 
by the same spirit. The distinctions of wealth, the 
differences of occupation, the ordinary exemptions 
from the liability to bear arms, seem not to have 
entered the minds of men. No one asked who is 
obliged to go ; the only question was, who is obliged 
to remain at home ? Town and country were equally 
prompt in the discharge of this, the highest duty of 
freemen. In this city, for several days, all ordinary 
business was laid aside, and no man either thouglit 
or acted, but for the public weal. More than a 
thousand men, of all ages, of all professions, and of 
every diversity of political opinion, the greater part 
of whom had never before borne arms, had enrolled 
themselves for the public defence, and were rapidly 



8 

accniiring the discipline of regulars ; while our char- 
tered companies, eager to distinguish themselves in 
the support of constitutional freedom, claimed as 
their right the privilege of veterans, that of perform- 
ing the most arduous services, and standing in the 
front rank in the moment of peril. It was a univer- 
sal rising of the people of Rhode-Island. Nor was 
it a mere gathering of soldiery for a hohday parade. 
Every one knew that he was engaged in serious bu- 
siness. No one expected that all would return alive. 
As the steamer received the citizen soldiers from 
Newport, Bristol and Warren, and the wharves were 
covered with wives and mothers and sisters, anxious 
to snatch a parting embrace, and to wave what many 
feared might be a last adieu, spectators whose eyes 
for half a century had never been moistened with a 
tear, were Utterly Unmanned, and before they were 
aware, found themselves weeping like children. It 
was then that every one became sensible of the in- 
iquity of this transaction. 

Nor was this a mere rising of popular sentiment, 
without any definite or well comprehended object. 
These citizens of Rhode-Island knew well for what 
purpose they were assembling. I have conversed 
with many of them, from various parts of the State, 
and they perfectly understood the nature of the ques- 
tion. I never heard from one of them a single sen- 
timent of vindictiveness or mahce. They were, hke 
all peaceful and virtuous men, exceedingly averse to 
the shedding of blood. All hoped that this difficulty 
might pass away without the occurrence of such a 
necessity. But they were conscious that the As- 



scnibly had done all that honorable men could ask, 
and that now, in order to maintain the righteous au- 
thority of law, and deliver this State from the mise- 
ries of anarchy, the only resort left them was the ap- 
peal to arms. It was the question whether we should 
be governed by constitutional law, or by brute force ; 
force not merely of our own misguided citizens, but 
of men from other States, allured hither by the hope 
of plunder, or the demon-like love of mischief. Nor 
did they rest here. They knew that if this prece- 
dent could be established in Rhode-Island, the exam- 
ple would be follow^ed in other States, and this whole 
country be delivered over to the horrors of a civil 
war. They met the issue as it becomes a patriot to 
meet it. Men of purer hearts, of sounder sense, or 
of more resolute purposes, it has never been my for- 
tune to know. This whole country and republican 
institutions throughout the world, owe them a debt 
of gratitude which should never be forgotten so long 
as a man remains on earth who believes that a nation 
is capable of governing itself. 

The plan of the campaign was arranged with 
promptitude and skill. On Monday, the troops were 
put in motion by different routes, for the neighbor- 
hood of Chepachet; and at an early hour on Tues- 
day, the camp of the insurgents would have been 
enclosed on every side. On Monday evening, how- 
ever, the leader of the insurgents fled, and in the 
course of the night, a large part of his troops had 
followed his example. The advanced guard of one 
of the columns pressed on during the night, amidst 
2 



10 

a violent storm of rain, to the scene of action, and af 
six o'clock in the morning, were in possession of the 
entrenchment. Being without leaders, no resistance 
Avas ofiered by the few who remained. A number 
were taken prisoners. Arms and ammunition and 
weapons of every description were found to a large 
amount in the encampment. Thus, without the loss 
of a single life in battle,* by the simple manifestation 
of the spirit of the yeomanry of Rhode-Island, this 
insurrection was quelled in an instant, and this whole 
State restored to the blessings of liberty and the pro- 
tection of law. 

What evils we have escaped by the happy termi- 
nation of this act of insubordination, it is scarcely 
possible to declare. It is sufficient to know, that 
every means had been taken to arouse the worst 
passions of the human heart ; that had the insurrec- 
tionists obtained possession of this city, there was 
nothing among themselves to control the action of 
those passions ; and it needs no prophet to inform 
us what must have been the result. Nor would the 
consequences have been confined to this State. If 
such a government as this could have been thus 
overturned, what government, either State or Gen- 
eral, could remain long unmoved.^ I see not how 
tranquility and order could have been again estab- 
lished upon any firm foundation, but by an almost 



* But two lives, I believe, were lost in the whole progress of this 
transaction. Lieut. Gonld^ of the Middletown Volunteers, was shot 
on tlio march, by a near relative, in a inoment of su(klon den-ange- 
ment ; and a person in I'awtuck<n was kiUed by tlio Kentisli Ouards, 
wlio were obliged to fire in soU-defonce, wlien attacked liy a mob 
wlio Iiad A\ ounded two of iheir number seriously, with clubs ami stones. 



11 

universal civil war. Where this would have ended, 
no human wisdom can predict. 

It is not, therefore, merely as citizens of Rhode 
Island, that we have cause for thanksgiving. God 
has, in this transaction, revealed to us the firm and 
unalterable attachment of this people to tlie cause of 
constitutional law. We all believed that this attach- 
ment existed, but never before has it been put to so 
stern and actual a trial. We have thus been taught, 
that in a country like ours, free, intelligent, and vir- 
tuous, where property is so universally divided, and 
every man has something at stake, the vast majority 
of the people are, and must be, determined to live 
under a government of law ; and that while they all 
believe that the foundation of all government is the 
will of the people, they as firmly believe that that 
will must be expressed, not by mass meetings and 
party resolutions, but according to the forms pre- 
scribed by the constitution. All men here are of 
the same class, for all have the same interests ; and 
hence a war of classes is impossible. So long as 
these sentiments prevail, our liberties stand on an im 
moveable basis. Political agitation may excite tem- 
porary alarm, the weakness or the wickedness oi 
rulers may awaken a momentary distrust, but, if, 
when a great constitutional principle is in peril, this 
whole people come forward as one man to vindicate 
it, we know that this republic is safe. 

It is for all this that we render unto God thanks- 
giving. It is his Spirit which breathed the love of 
liberty, and the resolution to maintain it into the 
hearts of our citizens. His wisdom has guided the 



12 

counsels of our rulers, and presided over those 
measures which have led to so happy a result. It 
is God who has poured confusion upon the counsels 
of injurious men, and scattered those that delight in 
war. His compassion has prevented the effusion of 
blood, and caused this great constitutional victory to 
be achieved without the loss of a single life in conflict. 
It is He that has restored to us our present tranquil- 
lity, and permitted us, without fear or molestation, to 
assemble in this house of prayer, with songs of 
thanksgiving, and offer our heartfelt praises to his 
adorable name. I believe that all this has been 
done in ansv/er to prayer. I believe that through- 
out this eventful period, thousands in the spirit oi" 
Christian charity, have besought Him not only to 
grant us dehverance, but bloodless deliverance from 
this calamity; and I beheve that this prayer has 
been most graciously accepted. We, therefore, in 
behalf of all men, of all parties, render to God our 
grateful acknowledgments. To Him we ascribe the 
praise of the freedom and peace v/hich we now en- 
joy, and of the bloodless means by which He has so 
mercifully granted it to us. And yet more, while we 
thank Him for his mercies, we acknowledge the in- 
creasing obhgatioos under which this interposition 
has placed us. It is not for any good thing in us, 
that he has thus dehvered us. It is all the work of 
His own infinite mercy. Let us then learn, as indi- 
viduals and as a community, to serve Him more 
laitlifully, to amend whatever is wrong in the midst 
of us, and thus to manifest our gratitude by holier, 
humbler, and more charitable lives. 



13 

Such are the sentiments of gratitude a})pro|)riato 
to the present occasion ; but I cannot leave the sub- 
ject here. We may also learn from the scenes 
through which we have passed, a lesson of humility 
and penitence. 

As happily as this transaction has terminated, it 
cannot be forgotten that it has inflicted a heavy blow 
upon the rising prosperity of this community. For 
several months past almost every kind of active busi- 
ness has been either diminished or suspended. 1 
know that this evil has been the result in part of the 
general commercial embarrassment which has be- 
fallen us. This of itself would have been distress- 
ing, but it has been rendered doubly severe by the 
civil dissensions with which we have been visited. 
Confidence in our resources could not exist abroad, 
when threats of insurrection and civil war were in 
daily circulation at home. Trade in every depart- 
ment has declined, and neither the manufacturer nor 
the merchant could find employment, either for cap- 
ital or labor. The amount thus lost cannot be esti- 
mated. The direct expenses of this agitation cannot 
be inconsiderable, and must subject us all to heavy 
taxation, at a time when we are by no means in the 
best condition to bear it. But this is a light evil, in 
comparison with the universal mental pain which has 
been inflicted upon this people. For weeks togeth- 
er it seemed as though the foundations on which the 
social fabric stood, were trembling. The very prin- 
ciples, by the admission of which, liberty can alone 
exist, and all that man holds dear be rendered invio- 
late, were denied, and the only course by which they 



14 

could be vindicutcd, seemed the resort to arms. It 
was inexpressibly painl'ul to believe that there were 
men whom we had never been conscious of injuring, 
and to whom we bore no evil intention, who were 
nevertheless willing to wage war upon a peaceful 
community, and surrender all that renders life a bles- 
sinii, to the will of lawless violence. And if this 
could be ever pleaded as a precedent, every one 
asked himself where in this continent would there be 
a refuge for liberty, innocence, and peace. All who 
have passed through this crisis, will agree with me 
in saying that every other evil is light in comparison 
with the mental agony which was suffered by every 
citizen, when he looked down into the chasm on the 
very verge of which we for some time seemed to be 
standing. 

Now all this surely is of the nature of a calamity. 
It becomes us seriously to inquire, what are the laws 
which we have violated, and why has this chastise- 
ment been inflicted upon us by our Heavenly Father? 

In answer to this question, I would remark ; in the 
first place, 1 think that we have suffered a just rebuke 
for our national arrogance and forgetfulness of God. 
[We have boasted of our institutions until our na- 
tional pride has, with some semblance of justice, 
exposed us to ridicule. We have claimed to ourselves 
the praise of being the freest and most enlightened 
j)eople on the face of the earth. This might be 
borne. But we have gone farther. We have held 
the institutions of all other nations in contempt, and 
have believed that here alone die evils of the human 
heart, unchecked by outward force, could never lead 



15 



to social agitation. But tliis is not all. We have 
done this without in any suitable manner acknow- 
ledging the goodness of God, from whom alone 
all our mercies have been received. We have praised 
our forefathers, the Puritans ; we have venerated the 
sages of our revolution ; we have idolized our form 
of government ; but that God, who, through these 
intermediate agencies, was bestowing upon us all our 
unexampled prosperity, we have not glorified. We 
have seemed, practically, to feel that our constitu- 
tions were so perfect and our Government so free, 
that severed from the guidance of Almighty wisdom, 
they would go on perfectly well of themselves. God 
has been pleased thus to rebuke our arrogance and 
impiety. He has shown us that we are liable, if not 
to the same, yet to as serious evils as any other peo- 
ple, and that therefore we should think of our bles- 
sings with devout and cautious humility. He has 
taught us, that although we are in no fear of op- 
pression from Government, yet we have not escaped 
the dangers which arise from the sliding of liberty 
into licentiousness ; and finally, he has reminded us, 
that how free soever may be our social institutions^ 
and how wisely constructed our forms of Government^ 
yet that the destiny of this as well as of every other 
nation, is in his hands. He alone is the author of all 
peace and tranquillity. At his frown, all our institu- 
tions would crumble to anarchy, only to form the 
elements of a military despotism. Nothing but his 
favor can ensure to us prosperity. If the events 
which have just transpired should teach us this les- 
son, and lead us as a people devoutly to recognize- 



16 

his pnrenlal care, it will be well that we have suffer- 
ed ; for our sufferings will have taught us wisdom, 
and tlie conviction of our fallibility will have cultivat- 
ed in us a spirit of dependence. 

2. Secondly, prosperity has insensibly made us 
selfish. While every one of us has been peacefully 
enjoying, from year to year, in his own domestic cir- 
cle, the fruits of his labor, our views have gradually 
contracted, and we have not been sufficiently aware 
of the duties which we owe to the community around 
us. Every man has too much felt that every other 
man could and would, sufficiently well, take care of 
himself. Hence, throughout this country, we have 
not been sufficiently careful of the intellectual and 
moral cultivation of the whole community. No one 
has felt that he had a personal interest in the well- 
being of every fellow-citizen of the State and of the 
Union. Hence, we have been negligent of our com- 
mon scho:)ls. or the blame of this neglect, this State 
must bear its share. It is not until within a few 
years, that we have made any provision for the in- 
struction of the whole people. And since that pro- 
vision has been made, it has not been considered the 
duty of the whole community to carry the blessings 
of education and of good education to every district 
and to every family within our borders. We have 
suffered the results of our own faults. This late dis- 
aster has, in a great degree, arisen from a misconcep - 
tion of the simplest principles of social order. 

Who does not see, that, by becoming citizens of this 
State and of the United States, we have bound our- 
selves, one JUid all, to submit every question of right. 



17 

first to the judicial tribunal of the State in which wc 
live, and ultimately to the highest judicial tribunal of 
the United States ; and that to these decisions w« 
have all bound ourselves to yield obedience ? Every 
tnan expects this of his neighbor, and his neighbor 
may therefore justly expect it of him. Who does 
not see that if any portion of this nation may right- 
fully take up arms to I'edress a supposed or even a 
l^eal grievance, all government is at an end ; consti- 
tutions and laws are nothing better than a contract 
signed by neither party, by which neither party is 
bound ; and there is no rule of action acknowledged, 
but the will of the strongest ? This is, as every one 
knows, the most appalling form of despotism. Who 
does not see that the idea of equalization of property 
is as absurd as it is wicked ? It would deprive the 
poor as well as the rich of all the benefits of virtue 
and industry, and subject honest men to the slavery 
of working for knaves. How has it happened that 
in siich a country as this, any portion of our citizens 
should have mistaken the principles of the French 
Revolution, for the principles of constitutional liber- 
ty ?* That such errors should have been with the 

* I am happy to be able to quote, in tliis connexion, the invaluable 
remai'ks of a writer, who, more than any other in this country, desei-ves 
to be heard on such a subject as this : — 

" By democracy we understand, that a people governs itself; and 
the priiiiary, fundamental act required of a people is, that it shall lay 
such restraints on its own powers, na will give the best security against 
their abuse. This is the highest puq)ose of a popular constitution. 
A constitution is not merely a machinery tor ascertaining and expres- 
"siug a people's will, but much more a provision for keeping that will 
within righteous bounds. It is the act of a people imposing limits on 
jtself, setting guard on its own passions, and throwing obstructions in 
tlie way of legislation, so as to compel itsell to j>ause, to deliberate, to 

3 



18 

least success promulgated, is a sufficient proof that 
wo have neglected the obvious duty of cultivating to 
he highest possible degree, the whole of the public 
mind. Had we labored in this cause with the zeal 
and patriotism and benevolence that becomes us, the 
evils which we have suffered, would never have be- 
fallen us. 

But this is not all. The cultivation of the intel- 
lect will be of but little value, without the cultivation 
of the heai't. Unless the soul be purified, education 
itself mny prove a curse instead of a blessing. There 
exists in the heart of man a fountain of depravity, 
from which, continually, have issued, in all ages, the 
waters of malice, envy, and all uncharitableness. 
The passions of men are, at the present moment, the 
same as they have ever been. Civilization by pre- 



hear all remonstrances, to weigh all rights and interests, before it 
acts. A coustitutioai not framed on these principles, must fail of its 
end. Now at the present moment, these sound maxims have lost 
much of their autliority. The people, flattered into blindness, have 
forgotten their passionateness, and proneness to abuse power. The 
wholesome restraints laid by the present Constitution on popular im- 
pulse are losing their force, and we have reason to fear that new con- 
stitutions formed at tlie present moment ^vould want, more than our 
present national charter, the checks and balances on which safety 
depends. 

" This language will not win me the name of Democrat. But I am 
not anxious to bear any name, into whicli Government enters as the 
great idea. I want as little government as consists with safety to the 
rights of all. I wish the peojile to govern no farther than they must. 
I wish them to place all checks on the legislature which consist with 
its efficiency. I honor the passion for power and rule as little in the 
people as in a king. It is a vicious principle, exist where it may. If 
by democracy be meant the exei-cise of sovereignty by tlie people un- 
der all those provisions and self-imposed restraints, which tend most 
to secure equal laws, and the rights of each and all, then I shall be 
proud to bear its name. But flic unfettered multitude is not dearer to 
me than the unfettered king. And yet, at the jtresent moment, there 
is a tendency to remove tlie restraints on wliicli the wise and righte- 
ous exertion of tlie people's power depends." — Dr. Channing on the 
Duty of the Free States. Second part, pp. 05 and 69. 



19 

senting new objects of desire, has only whetted to 
a keener edge the appetite of cupidity, and universal 
information, by opening to all men every avenue to 
distinction, has only fanned to intenser fury the de- 
mon-like love of power. Such are the elements 
with which, under any social system, we must of ne- 
cessity contend. It is apparent that no mere form of 
social organization has any power to resist their in- 
fluence. Our only hope tor freedom is in that Gos- 
pel which is able to subdue those lusts which nestle 
in the heart of individual man. Modify your govern- 
ment as you will, while these remain unchanged, the 
foundation is insecure, and the fabric will sooner or 
later fall to ruin. It is on the religion of Jesus 
Christ alone, that the freedom and security and per- 
manency of every form of social organization must 
ultimately depend. If this be true in general, it is 
specially true of institutions like our own, where all 
the ancient barriers are removed, and constitutions 
and laws emanate so directly from the will of the 
people. Let us never then lose sight of the truth, 
that the only stable foundation of such a government 
as ours, is the moral principle of the people ; and let 
us remember at the same time that the moral prin- 
ciple of a people can never be relied upon under 
strong temptations, unless it be sustained and upheld 
and vitalized by the precepts and hopes and sanc- 
tions of revealed religion. 

And let us bear equally in mind another important 
truth, which has been still more universally forgot- 
ten. God has seen fit to render charity, active, ex- 
pansive, universal benevolence, one of the most pres- 



sing duties of our present state. At the decisions of 
the last day, He has represented it as the great test 
of human character. He has enforced this duty by 
the gravest sanctions, arising not only from the hopes 
of the future, but also from the exigencies of the 
present life. Among the latter, are those which 
emanate from our social condition. Intertwined as 
are the destinies of men with each other, in the pro- 
gress of advancing civilization, our fellow men cannot 
be ignorant or vicious, or unhappy without materially 
affecting us in our most vital interests. The only 
way in which we can be permanently virtuous and 
happy ourselves, is by striving to render our fellow 
men virtuous and happy. Active benevolence al- 
lays the irritation which arises from difference in so- 
cial position. It gives to every man an interest in good 
order, and, what is more, it unites all men to each oth- 
er by the strong tie of mutual affection. By spread- 
ing abroad in the community the light of intelligence, 
it gives to truth its natural preponderance over error. 
By the cultivation of moral principle, it controls the pas- 
sions of men, and thus eradicates the desire of wrong 
doing. And it is not enough for us to allow our fellow- 
men in this free country to take care of themselves, 
God has made it our duty to take care of them ; and 
unless we obey his laws, we must sooner or later suffer 
the consequences of our transgression. Here, then, 
let us begin to testify our gratitude. In this manner 
let us learn wisdom by the result of our errors. Let 
us begin by sending the means of sound and exten- 
sive information to every part and portion of our com- 
munity. If men do not sec the importance of know- 



21 

ledge, let us set it before them. If they are not 
willing to pay for it, let us provide it for their chil- 
dren. Let us sow broad-cast the seed of eternal 
truth, and by the pulpit and the press and the Sab- 
bath school, bring the gospel, with its glorious hopes 
and its solemn sanctions, to the fireside and the bo- 
som of every man and woman and child among us. 
Then, and not till then, will our nation be exalted 
by righteousness ; then will the Lord be a wall of 
fire round about us, when he is the glory in the midst 
of us. 

But, Thirdly. It will be in vain for us to cultivate 
the moral principles of men by means of revealed 
religion, unless we unfold the lessons of divine truth 
precisely as they have been delivered to us. I fear 
that we have failed to do this. I therefore am oblig- 
ed to confess that the pulpit must be responsible, in 
part at least, for much of the error which has vitiated 
the public mind. 

The design of the public ministrations of Religion 
is to persuade men to discharge their duties to God 
and to each other. The evidence of religious char- 
acter is found not merely in sentiments of devotion, 
but also in a life of piety, charity, justice, innocence 
and truth. If we may beheve the New Testament, 
aside from this practical development, professions of 
religion are vain and hypocritical. Now I am con- 
strained to confess, that both in our preaching and in 
our other religious teaching, the inculcation of those 
tempers of heart and of that corresponding practice 
which the gospel requires, has been greatly neglect- 
ed. We have insisted on the necessity of certain 



/ 



spiritual exercises, while the necessity of a holy and 
virtuous life, as the fruit of those exercises, and the 
proof of their existence, has been suffered to fade 
from our recollection. When our Saviour was ask- 
ed which was the great commandment in the law, 
he answered, " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God 
with all thy soul and mind and strength ;" but he im- 
mediately added, " The second is like unto it, thou 
shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." Let a man read 
the New Testament, and he cannot fail to observe 
the earnestness and solemnity with which the sacred 
writers inculcate the truth that without the love and 
the practice of universal justice and charity and truth 
and purity, no other offering can be acceptable to 
God. Let him reflect upon the particularity with 
which we are instructed in the duties which we owe 
to each other as parents and children, as husbands 
and wives, as buyers and sellers, as masters and ser- 
vants, as magistrates and citizens, and he cannot fail 
to remark that the preaching of inspiration and the 
preaching of the present day, are, in this respect, 
widely dissimilar. And hence it has sometimes come 
to be believed that moral and religious character, 
having no principles in common, may be divorced 
from each other. One man asserts that his religion 
has nothing to do with the regulation of his passions, 
another that it has nothing to do with his business, 
and another that it has nothing to do with his poli- 
tics. Thus while the man professes a religion which 
obhges him to serve God in every thing, he declares 
that whenever obedience would interfere with his 
cherished vices, he will not serve God at all And 



23 

I grieve to say that the pulpit has failed to meet such 
sentiments at the very threshhold, with its stern and 
uncompromising rebuke. From fear of the re- 
proaches of men falsely professing godliness, it has 
been silent when it ouglit to have spoken out plain- 
ly. A man may be mean or even dishonest in his deal- 
ings, or he may be reckless about his word ; or he 
may indulge in unhallowed passions, or he may pur- 
sue a thousand courses which are at variance with 
the Christian character, and yet if he have occa- 
sional seasons of devotion, and hold firmly to the 
doctrines which are professed by his church, he may 
attend the sanctuary Sabbath after Sabbath, and toa 
frequently hear of nothing which shall arouse him 
from his spiritual delusion. Men are told how they 
must feel, but they are not told how they must act, 
and the result, in many cases ensues, that a man's 
belief has but a transient and uncertain effect upon 
his practice. 

Now the evils arising from this partial declaration 
of the doctrines of revelation, are manifold. The 
standard of moral character among professors of re- 
ligion, may thus even sink below the level of the 
community around them. They cease to be the 
light of the world. Nay more ; their actions are 
pleaded as an apology for wickedness of other men. 
Hence the Ught that is in them becomes darkness. 
And again, the moral effect of the religion of Christ 
is the great evidence to mankind of its divine au- 
thority. If no such effect be produced, men, with 
much apparent reason, deny its claims to such aii- 



^4 

thority. Thus even tliat portion of its truth which 
is preached, is held by them to be no better than a 
fable. Thus by neglecting to dehver the truth as 
Christ has delivered it to us, we at once debase the 
tharacter of the Christian church, depress the stand- 
ard of public morals, and we deprive even the truth 
which we deliver of all authority over the conscien- 
ces of men. 

I fear that this has been the error to no inconsid- 
(erable degree of the pulpit in this country. It has 
failed to set before men their duties as the New 
Testament sets them forth; Hence in the midst of 
this Christian land, in the very home of the Puritans^ 
We find men so ill-instructed in the obhgations 
which they owe both to God and to each other, so 
utterly unaware of the duties which Christianity en- 
joins upon parents and children, upon husbands and 
wives, upon buyers and sellers, upon employers and 
enrtployed, and upon mogistrates and citizens. If this 
be so, I say the pulpit is grievously in fault, and 
until this fault be amended, the ministers of the Gos- 
pel will not be held guiltless before God. 

Such are some of the causes for humiliation of 
Which we are reminded on the present occasion. 
In what manner, let us inquire, under our present cir- 
cumstances, shall our gratitude and humility be made 
evident ? 

I answer, we are specially called to the exercise 
of forgiveness and conciliation. 

Does any one of you, my brethren, believe that 
his fellow-citizens intended to injure him, that the 
measures for which they have rendered themselves 



26 

Responsible, would have ended in the most disastrous 
consequences to this State and this nation ; and that 
nothing but the gracious interposition of God, has 
saved us from a most deplorable calamity? Suppose all 
this to be true, what then as a man and a Christian^ 
is your most imperative duty ? It is manifestly the ' 
duty of forgiveness and charity. The man who has 
erred, is your fellow-citizen and your brother. Both 
of you are ahke fallible, and both stand in equal 
need of forgiveness from your Father in Heaven. 
Had you been in his circumstances, are you sure! 
that you would not have acted as he has done ?! 
Nay, are you not in some degree answerable for his 
error, since, had you been faithful to him, he might 
not in this case, have mistaken his duty. Again,' 
many of our fellow-citizens were first committed to 
this undertaking, by the belief that they were con-| 
tending for a right. And though this belief were ! 
erroneous, and the action to which it led unlawful, 
yet the love of right is one of the highest impulses 
of a human soul. And let us ever remember that 
the suffering of injury confers upon us the power of 
performing the noblest act of virtue, the recom- 
pensing of evil by good. These are the principles 
of that religion which we profess, and on which alone 
we rest our hopes for immortality. The present is 
a fitting tune to put them into practice. Let every 
man, then, strive to obliterate from his mind every 
trace of vindictiveness and every recollection of vic- 
tory, and cultivate no other sentiments than those of 
torgivencss and good will, and speciaJlv of respect 
4 



26 

for the feelings of those with whom he has come 
mto colhsion. Let whatever is painful in the past, 
be henceforward forgotten, so that we may all re- 
turn to the relations which existed before these dis- 
asters commenced. 

I think that every one must perceive that forgive- 
ness and charity are the tempers of mind which now 
particularly become us, and that they are among the 
noblest that ever find a place within a human bosom. 
If any other can compare with them in nobleness, it 
is the frank and manly confession of our faults. That 
there has been wrong somewhere, I think every one 
of us must believe. After all that we have suffered in 
the loss of labor, and capital — after all that we have 
endured in anguish of spirit — we are but too happy 
in finding ourselves where we might have been a year 
ago, without a threat of violence, or even a word of 
unkindness. This gratuitous misery cannot have 
been innocently inflicted upon this community. Upon 
a calm review of the past all men will, I doubt not, 
see cause to confess, that they, or those with whom 
they have acted, have in some respects erred. Let 
every one, then, frankly and honestly confess his 
faults. Who of us is so weak as to claim for himself 
or for his associates, unerring wisdom or spotless in- 
tegrity ? Let every one, then, hear with candor the 
explanations of those who have differed from him- 
So soon as this is done, I believe that good men of all 
parties will unite in regretting that a single measure 
should have been taken to disturb the peace of the 
people of Rhode-Island. Nothing so firmly estab- 



27 

lishes confidence among men, or restores it after it 
has been impaired, as the frank and manly confes- 
sion of our errors. Let each one, then, irrespective of 
party and party alliances, speak out the honest con- 
victions of his heart, and I am confident that with 
good men among us, there will remain but few, and 
those unimportant, points of difference. 

While, however, I say this. I am bound as an honest 
man to go farther. It is not to be concealed, that an at- 
tempt has been made to commit a revolting crime a- 
gainst the peace of this community. The lives and the 
property of this people have been put in peril. The 
wealth of this State has been consumed, and its power 
of accumulation paralized. And yet more, had this 
insurrection been successful, it must have been at the 
cost of wholesale pillage and murder. And yet more, 
abandoned men from other States were invited to 
perpetrate these crimes upon the people of llhode- 
Island. Lives there a man with a Rhode-Island 
heart in his bosom, who can pretend to justify such 
enormities ? Let every man, then, who is liable to 
the least imputation of having abetted them, come 
forward and disavow them. He owes it to himself, 
to his family, to his country, and his God ; nay, he 
owes it to the cause of free institutions, which this 
transaction has grievously scandalized. And if any 
of our citizens, in a moment of misguided excitement, 
have aided or participated in this unhallowed cause, 
I am confident that now, when the time for calm re- 
flection has arrived, they must look upon the past 
with sincere regret. Let every such man honestly and 



28 

nobly confess his error, nnd unite with his fellow-citi- 
zens in the support of constitutional law. This is 
what he would expect from another, and it is what 
his fellow-citizens may rightfully expect from him. 
Let him do this, and that man is little to be envied 
who would not extend to him the warm hand of 
generous forgiveness and fraternal patriotism. 

But the present occasion calls us to the more than 
common exercise of charity. We are enduring the 
evils of unusual commercial and financial embar- 
rassment. It is not peculiar to this country. It exists 
throughout the world. For a series of years, owing 
to an unwise expansion of the currency, prices have 
been unreasonably high and labor has been abund- 
antly rewarded. There has followed of necessity a 
corresponding contraction of the currency, and 
what is worse, in some parts of our country, a total 
destruction of the circulating medium. A want of 
confidence has ensued, and all operations of credit 
have been sus})cndcd. Business of every kind lan- 
guishes. The manufacturer, after sustaining himself 
to the utmost of his power, has been obliged in many 
cases to close his mill ; and, because he can employ 
them no longer, to dismiss his workmen. A large 
portion of the most worthy of our citizens are at this 
moment out of employment, and no one knows when 
the change for the better will occur. Now I say 
that this crisis calls upon us for the exercise of un- 
i usual and self-denying charity. Let us wisely and 
with one consent look around us, and see what can 
be done to relieve the distresses which accm to be 



29 

approaching. Can we do nothing to provide em- 
ployment for those who are from necessity idle ? Are 
there no pubUc works which might be undertaken, 
by which the industrious might be furnished with the 
means of subsistence ? And besides this, should the 
present embarrassments continue until the winter, 
there will be an unusual demand upon our individual 
and public benevolence. Let us meet this demand 
hke patriots and like Christians. Let us curtail 
every expense, that we may have the more to give 
to him that needeth. Let us deny ourselves of our 
ordinary conveniences, that we may minister to oth- 
er men's necessities. What we would not surrender at 
the demand of violence, let us cheerfully offer up upon 
the altar of charity. All classes must learn to live upon 
more limited means. The merchant and manufac- 
turer must be satisfied with lower profits, and the 
laborer with lower wages ; and thus by frugality and 
labor and self-denial and benevolence, we shall be 
enabled to meet this exigency with the least possible 
suffering. 

In one respect we have great reason for encour- 
agement. It has pleased God to give us the pro- 
mise of an abundant harvest. I do not remember 
a year in which the appearance of the crops of every 
kind has been so universally flattering. The means 
of subsistence, therefore, will, we hope, be as great 
as could be desired. This must, of course, quicken 
the demand for manufactures, and call labor again 
into request, while it will render the necessaries of 
fife cheap, probably, beyond any recent precedent. 



30 

How unwise and ungrateful soever we may have 
been, the goodness of God endureth continually. 
Let us tlien look to Him with cheering confidence 
ibr the future. Let us, with kindness to each other 
and piety to Him, prepare ourselves for whatever 
He may a])point for us, ever remembering that the 
severest trials may be alleviated by charity and for- 
bearance and respect for law ; while the blessings of 
Cod themselves may be turned into bitterness, by 
hatred, vindictiveness, disorder and anarchy. 

And lastly, allow me to suggest a single remark 
In respect to the duty which is about to devolve up- 
on this community. We are soon to take measures 
for the formation of a constitution under which wc 
and our children are hereafter to live. This is a mo- 
mentous period in our history. Upon our action at 
this time, the prosperity and happiness of this State 
for many years, will certainly depend. Suffer me, 
then, to remind you that the object at which we all 
should aim, is to establish such a form of government 
as shall best secure to every man, from the highest to 
the lowest, the enjoyment of life, liberty, and the 
pursuit of happiness ; or the right to do whatever 
he will, provided he interfere with the rights of no 
other man. But this liberty can only be attained 
by imposing restraints upon ourselves. The glory 
of a re})ublican government consists in this, that 
every thing is subject to law ; that the highest and 
the lowest, the many and the few, bow down with 
one accord to her authority. Let all men and all 
Qlasses of men, from the heart, abjure the love of 



s\ 

power, the most contemptible, as well as the most 
hellish of all the forms of lust ; and each seek with 
generous patriotism, the good of the whole. And 
let us all, with pious confidence, beseech the Giver 
of every good and perfect gift, that He will grant 
wisdom to those of our fellow-citizens who may meet 
in the approaching convention, so that by their la- 
bors, we may live peaceable lives in all godliness 
and honesty. And I entreat you, my brethren, who 
have so often during the late difficulties commended 
this community to the parental care of our Father 
who is in Heaven, cease not to pray for its future 
welfare. I cannot but believe that your prayers have, 
in a most remarkable manner, been answered. Cast 
not away, therefore, your confidence in God, which 
hath great recompence of reward. Thus may the 
Lord bless us and cause His face to shine upon us ; 
that His way may be known upon earth, His saving 
health among all nations. 






9? 



